Alchemy and Agriculture
by The Plot Doctor
Summary: A chain of events lead a young girl to start a farm and slowly changes the town, quite possibly for the better. But what is the mystery that surrounds her? A slice of life involving a bit of mystery, cameos, and hints of combat.


**There are two narrators below. Think of the one in italics as a persnickety older lady, the one in standard font is a bit younger and more adventurous. I'm trying it out, and if it goes over well, I may develop them as their own characters who make at least small appearances in all of my future stories, like all-knowing beings, but not quite. Love it? Hate it? Let me know.**

**There's very little in this chapter that alludes to anything, but legally I hold the rights to nothing and that shall not change over the course of this story, so this shall be my only disclaimer.**

xXx

_It was the sort of night that would mark a beginning, the kind one might joke about but never expect to actually happen. Had it been a book, many who consider themselves more refined would back out right then for indulging in such a cliché so early on. Who could blame them? Those who had dared to venture further and found themselves quite pleased._

_For it all started with a group of rowdy teenagers, as so many are, heading off on a so called 'dark and stormy night' for a test of courage. They've told and retold the story so many times over the years from their different perspectives that they must have all been wrong at some point, while truthfully none of them entirely remember what occurred, at least not clearly. The end result overshadowed everything, except that one embarrassing moment of pure terror. In order to protect their dignity, their real names shall not be used in the story you're about to hear._

Oh get off your high horse, none of that was necessary in the slightest. You just love the sound of your own voice, you pompous priss.

_Well I never! I suppose you believe you could do better?_

With ease.

_Then by all means try. I'd love to see you fail yet again._

Fine, I will. And these lovely listeners will enjoy it far better than anything you could concoct with your ancient "greater-than-though" narration.

To be perfectly clear, there were five within the group that dared to venture out that night, but they were not all teenagers like a certain condescending dinosaur would have you believe.

_I resent that!_

One individual was actually an eleven-year-old boy, who I must say was and still is quite brilliant for his age. You may ask what place a boy genius has amongst "rowdy teenagers", and to be quite honest he was only there to protect his cowardly older sister from her friends that he viewed to be unsavory. He wasn't entirely wrong, for the other girl was the super perky type that talks far too much, the oldest among them might be viewed as brutish-

_Much like you!_

As I was saying, he may be viewed as brutish for he was very muscular and didn't talk when avoidable, and the last boy was filled with nothing but sarcasm and stupid questions. An odd group of friends, if you could call them that, but not uncommon character types. And considering their relatively small town, it was almost inevitable that they would come together. Speaking of the town, it was farm based, more specifically sheep. On a far edge of town, barely within the borders, lay their destination.

A rather decrepit looking house on a rather large plot a land that was obviously once a farm, this notion is further stated by the two smaller wrecks of buildings that appeared to have once been a barn and coop now lain to shambles. The area might have been repaired and replaced long ago if not for superstition and the apparent wasteland it had become. The rotting buildings, the barren fields, a forgotten history, and the wildlife that made home there led to much foolish superstition that could only be overcome by foolish bravery.

_Are you planning on starting the story yet or are you planning to describe the ongoing politics next?_

I was getting to it, would you care to interrupt again or can I continue?

_By all means go on. I'd like to see if this was actually going anywhere._

* * *

><p>Just outside the local cause of caution, a small bespectacled boy spoke up hesitantly, "I'm not sure this is an entirely wise decision."<p>

A rather lanky young man wrapped an arm around said boy grinning wickedly while teasing, "Aw, whatsa matter? Is the little boy scared of ghosts? Gonna piss your pants?"

The boy was promptly snatched a way into a death grip hug that clearly annoyed him. The culprit was a well-endowed young "lady", with a look in her eyes that's borderline perversion, who exclaimed, "Leave him alone! If he's scared then that's even cuter, but I don't appreciate your language. And I wouldn't blame him if he was terrified, this place is the definition of creepy and downright spooky." She paused for a second, "What's the difference between those two anyway? Why do there have to be so many different words that mean the same thing? It so confusing! I mean-"

She was promptly cut off by the boy placing his hand over her mouth, knowing that was the only way he'd get a word in edge wise, he promptly interjected "I do not believe in ghosts or anything else of such nature, what I meant is that judging by the architectural stability and the inevitable weather, entering would be ill-advised."

"H-he's right, we s-should just go home. Forget the w-whole th-thing," said a rather mousy girl who bore a striking resemblance to the boy.

"No way," the mischief maker said, "We all agreed to do this and whoever leaves is a great big chicken-cat." He was met with many annoyed stares, but as fate would have it, lightning struck a nearby tree that very instant, eliciting a high pitched-squeal and many erratic heartbeats.

"We should take cover," suggested a deep gruff voice belonging to a very tall well-muscled figure pointing to the building they were just arguing over. Upon seeing the fear on the mousy girls face, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she seemed to calm down. With no arguments to be made they all trudged inside, and promptly realized that it was even worse on the inside. Cobwebs and dust, leaking holes in the roof, and various forms of trash scattered about were only a few of the offensive sights they were met with. Not to mention the stench and the ominous creaking that met each step, even though they dared not venture far upon spotting the ominous dark spot upon the floor. Well most of them didn't.

The entirely too perky girl inched forward slowly, overcome with curiosity. Glancing at the darkened floor, she asked the question on all of their minds, "Do you think that's blood? I mean it's too dark to really tell, but it could be. This might mean the rumors are really true…" She trailed off before her face became determined, "I'm going to touch it!"

The surprisingly brave boy was suddenly by her side "Don't be stupid, it's probably just oil or something like that."

She was not the least bit deterred when she countered, "If it's just oil then it should be no problem to touch it, but if it's not it's the ultimate test of courage. Isn't that what we came here to do?! Or are you content with being labeled baby chicken-cats?" She barely managed not to laugh at that last bit.

Before anyone could provide an answer to her bold question, several large booms like thunder could be heard overhead and the wind began to howl furiously. They all backed up against the walls by instinct, which turned out to be a very wise decision, for at that moment something fell through the ceiling right where they had been standing mere seconds ago, and hit the ground hard. Then they were faced with a deafening silence, even the rain seemed to stop and they dared not breathe. The amount of time that passed while they stared dumfounded remains uncertain, but they did eventually react.

The muscular figure approached first in case it was dangerous, though hoping it was only a log, it was then that he made a rare sound for him, he gasped. For upon close inspection he saw a girl, battered and bloody. He somehow appeared calm as he commanded, "Go get help."

And the snarky young man scrambled to comply, running off to the closest neighbor.

* * *

><p><em>Really? You're going to end it there?! What's with the ridiculous cliffhanger?<em>

My dear windbag, have you learned nothing? Prologues aren't supposed to resolve anything, only create problems that you must see resolved. It's also at this point that the narrator becomes scarce.

_I suppose you think you're so clever, but this is far from over, where there's a prologue, there's an epilogue, and that shall be my time to shine!_

But wouldn't you rather have those interesting little snippets that occur throughout the plot? Your… flourish suits that sort of thing quite nicely.

…_I'll think about it. But we're wasting time here._

Right then, goodbye.

_Wait! The teaser!_

_What will become of this mysterious girl? Where did she come from? What happened that left the property in such a state? Will it even be important again?_

xXx

**Thank you if you stuck through this, I'd like to ask for help. I need details on the town/village (It shouldn't be too hard to figure out where it is, but clearly stating it would have been slightly inappropriate.) in the form of festivals, layout, and villagers. Ideas both original and cannon will be so greatly appreciated. In short I need OCs, but not just some random person with few details, a whole family would be ideal, with defined personalities/likes/appearances/careers. I'd even appreciate a little help with the characters mentioned above (even the narrators), I have vague ideas for names, but suggestions would be better and the same goes for appearances, but mostly they need families.**

**Also a bit of forewarning that it will be more like a mix of factors concerning RF and HM, with alchemy thrown in for good measure. This fic will be mostly lighthearted and may proceed one much more action oriented. In the event of that occurring, I'd like to request suggestions for things with well-written action scenes so that I may prepare myself.**

**Review if you have complaints, requests, ideas, or even if you just want to alert me to something you enjoyed. I'll fix a problem pointed out to me if I also see it as a problem, but I must apologize for my amateur writing style.**


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